*Pic: Professor Mark Taylor with corroding pipes believed to be the source of the contamination.
Tasmania’s water authority has conceded that communities across the north-east could have unknowingly been exposed to unsafe levels of lead in drinking water for years before they were warned.
Some people may have been consuming contaminated water without receiving a public health warning, TasWater chief executive Mike Brewster told 7.30.
“It’s possible … we don’t know because the [water] testing regime was only brought in in 2009, so I couldn’t answer that,” he said.
The water is so poor in five Tasmanian towns including Pioneer and Winnaleah that it is unfit to drink, with “do not consume” notices in place.
Twenty-two communities have been told they must boil their water before drinking it.
A new study by Macquarie University environmental scientist Paul Harvey shows that lead levels are 22 times higher than Australian standards for drinking water in Pioneer and the contamination is being caused by old degraded pipes, aging infrastructure and household plumbing.
Mr Harvey said even though Pioneer was placed on the do not consume list in 2012, the contamination could have occurred years before, leaving residents exposed.
Read Michael Atkin’s full report, ABC here
• Jack Jolly, in Comments: An award for the best imitation of a startled rabbit caught in a spotlight goes to the guy from the water authority interviewed on Lateline. Or has he been drinking the water?
• Tim Slade, Pioneer, in Comments: The ABC’s 730 Report last night was much appreciated national exposure for us here at Pioneer. However, my criticism of the story is that, in the last part of the report, new rainwater tanks were pictured everywhere, as if we all had one; that we were unhappy with this and were demanding treated water. This is not the case. The question that was not asked, and should have been, is: Where are our rainwater tanks?! It is 2 years since the town signed a petition stating that that is what we want. And yet, only 8 properties have their tanks – 8 tanks were installed 6-months ago. We are not demanding treated water: we are demanding rainwater tanks, coupled with a reticulated supply. This is the fundamentally incorrect slant to the story which I feared. Anyway, there is much to be pleased with in this ABC 730 Report. And we are very grateful to the ABC for the report. Hopefully the story works as a general source of pressure upon TasWater.
• Isla MacGregor, in Comments: At the centre of this Lead contamination of water issue across Tasmania is that Councils prior to 2009 were [b]not[/b] monitoring water properly and especially for metals. TasWater chief executive Mike Brewster told 7.30. [b]”It’s possible … we don’t know because the [water] testing regime was only brought in in 2009, so I couldn’t answer that,” he said. [/b] The State’s former Director of Health Dr Roscoe Taylor, then responsible for ensuring safe drinking water for all Tasmanians, needs to be called in by the Commissioner of an Integrity Commission Inquiry and asked [b][i]Please explain?[/i][/b] …………and can the state’s Councils [i]please explain[/i] to the ratepayers of Tasmania as well………why did they allow some in the community to be poisoned by Pb etc in the water?
• Michael Brewster, TasWater: Major upgrades of North East water supplies underway
• Jack Jolly, in Comments: This is all easy to solve. If the board meetings of TasWater were served with only the lowest drinking quality water available for Tasmanians (as their only refreshment during a hot summer) all of a sudden fixing the problem would be essential and in the ‘public’ (i.e. ‘their’) interest. Perhaps Miles Hampton could bottle some up for his family as well? If this is not the standard that public organisations are upholding, it is pretty obvious to everyone that we have system that is not serving the most vulnerable Tasmanians. It is only serving the most powerful.
• ABC: A Will … but no way … HERE … but there is for lawyers … HERE Tasmania’s Premier Will Hodgman is demanding answers as the national spotlight falls on more than two dozen Tasmanian towns where locals are unable to drink from the water supply. In 26 towns across the state the water is unsafe to drink and either needs to be boiled or cannot be consumed at all. … But Mr Hodgman did not commit any money to help speed up pipe upgrades, or install more rain water tanks. “The responsible owners are of course, local government, so we need to work with them as well, but as a State Government we cannot accept the current situation,” he said. TasWater chief executive Mike Brewster said the organisation was working to fix the problem but some residents could be waiting for years before they could safely drink from the tap. “We’re fixing it,” he said. “And that’s why we’re spending $110 million a year for the foreseeable future to ensure that Tasmania never finds itself in this position again,” he said. …
• O’Brien, in Comments: Re: #11 “It has been clear to many citizens of this state that from the Governor down to the lowest management levels there is an attitude that doing nothing is OK.” From my experience within the State Service most managers did nothing as a means of self preservation. To actually ‘do’ something meant there was a potential for consequences. Most Tasmanians would be flabbergasted at the depth of sloth, waste, nepotism, ineptitude and plain meanness of those meant to serve us. It was not uncommon for managers to arrange endless meetings at other ends of the state so as to accrue allowances. Managers were openly referred to as ‘pigs’ by the staff.
